June7, 2017

This morning Superintendent Dr. Greg Adkins, members of the Lee County School Board, TALC, SPALC, District Leadership and employees gathered to demand Governor Rick Scott veto House Bill 7069.

“This bill dismally fails to meet the needs of teachers and students served by public school systems like ours,” explained Superintendent Dr. Greg Adkins. “Behind closed door, legislators took dozens of bills that never would have passed on their own merit, and crammed them into HB 7069. This legislation will harm our schools, cut programs for our students, and make it harder to recruit effective and highly effective teachers.”

When you email or call, feel free to share one or more of the bullet points below, or your own thoughts as to how this bill will be harmful to our community, our schools and our students.

HB 7069 was crafted behind closed doors with a lack of transparency, weakening the procedures established in the “Florida’s Government in the Sunshine.”

Legislators took dozens of bills that never would have passed on their own merit, cramming them into HB 7069 without input from educators or citizens.

HB 7069 takes Title 1 dollars and shifts them away from schools that serve our poorest children. Changes to Title 1 may cost some teachers their jobs, lead to inefficiencies of services and wasted tax dollars.

HB 7069 creates additional disparity in funding between charter and traditional schools. The act will discriminate against children in traditional public schools;

This bill strips away local control to direct funds in a way that allows us to attract and retain the very best teachers for our children, something they deserve.